iTunes sales of Beatles albums top 450,000 in first week

A week after adding the Beatles to iTunes, Apple has sold 450,000 albums and 2 million songs.

Apple announced exclusive access to digital sales of the Beatle's music last week, including a digital box set that includes 13 studio albums, a two-volume Past Masters compilation and the concert film Live at the Washington Coliseum, 1964.

According to a report by Billboard, Apple sold 119,000 albums in the US, including 13,000 digital box sales (which count as a single album in the US figures; the global sales numbers appear to count each box set component as an individual album sale).

The Beatles' best selling album on iTunes in the US was 1969's "Abbey Road," while the top selling song was that album's track, "Here Comes the Sun."

The report compared the Beatles' sales favorably against first-week digital track sales for superstar acts, which "this year typically ranged from 100,000 to 300,000 per title, while digital album sales ranged anywhere from 40,000 to 278,000 for Taylor Swifts blockbuster third album 'Speak Now.'"

Apple has devoted its webpage to the iTunes Beatles announcement, and is running an extensive marketing campaign that includes prominent placement on iTunes as well as TV ads airing during primetime programming, including ABC's American Music Awards and NBC's Sunday Night Football.

The report stated that Apple's media campaign is "expected to kick into high gear this for Black Friday, with expanded TV advertising in the U.S. and full-page ads in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times."

A week after adding the Beatles to iTunes, Apple has sold 450,000 albums and 2 million songs.

I wonder how much net profit they'll make after the huge amount of Beatles-on iTunes promotional advertising they've done? I wouldn't be surprised if it's not significant. How much do they make on an average album? Is it as much as a buck?

Interesting to see that a George Harrison song - Here Comes the Sun - is the top selling tune! I have to say that it is the song I think of, just a much as "She Love You", as exemplary Beatles music.

I wonder how much net profit they'll make after the huge amount of Beatles-on iTunes promotional advertising they've done? I wouldn't be surprised if it's not significant. How much do they make on an average album? Is it as much as a buck?

Interesting to see that a George Harrison song - Here Comes the Sun - is the top selling tune! I have to say that it is the song I think of, just a much as "She Love You", as exemplary Beatles music.

I don't think Apple had profit in mind when doing this deal. iTunes/Beatles... Beatles/iTunes... this deal puts iTunes into the minds of a bunch of new customers (imo)... iTunes is not just for the young.

I don't think Apple had profit in mind when doing this deal. iTunes/Beatles... Beatles/iTunes... this deal puts iTunes into the minds of a bunch of new customers (imo)... iTunes is not just for the young.

Yes - having the Beatles may not bring in dollars directly but it is another large and very visible feather in iTunes' hat and as such it is very good marketing. This also proves how very lazy people are and also how trigger happy people are. After all these years so many people had not managed to get the Beatles into their iTunes libraries out of sheer laziness. No evidence here, just a gut feeling. (I know I'm right, tho) Also, now that the Beatles are on iTunes it is so easy it almost seem like a new brilliant idea - just click and you can have the WHOLE collection. There are a lot of old(ish) folks out there who don't much like/know new music. A lot of folk with a lot of disposable income.

Well so much for the 'Everyone has got them" rants! I am shocked to be honest. I bet Yoko (corrected thanks to Spamsandwich) is kicking herself for holding out so long.

No surprise that the iTunes Store sold so many Beatles. Remember, when Michael Jackson died, every single song on the Top Ten were his for several days. This "everyone has got them" rant is only uttered by fools. A lot of commenters seem to assume that only baby boomers are interested in the Beatles which is completely wrong.

Note that the world's population is also expanding. Heck, in the United States alone, there's a need for about 120,000 new jobs every month, just to keep up with population growth.

And this is why Apple could care less what is posted here. Most of the posts that I read couldn't have cared, or were disappointed with the announcement. I didn't care. But I'm not the marketing perfectionist.

And this is why Apple could care less what is posted here. Most of the posts that I read couldn't have cared, or were disappointed with the announcement. I didn't care. But I'm not the marketing perfectionist.

I wish I could say I'd forget 'that' day, but it was my b-day.

Anyway.

You are right about Apple not caring how much people were "disappointed". When so many are happy..... 8 days a week.

Some how I feel however, you have posted in the first threat (after official announcement was made) how disappointed you were and how high your expectations were.

Yes - having the Beatles may not bring in dollars directly but it is another large and very visible feather in iTunes' hat and as such it is very good marketing. This also proves how very lazy people are and also how trigger happy people are. After all these years so many people had not managed to get the Beatles into their iTunes libraries out of sheer laziness. No evidence here, just a gut feeling. (I know I'm right, tho) Also, now that the Beatles are on iTunes it is so easy it almost seem like a new brilliant idea - just click and you can have the WHOLE collection. There are a lot of old(ish) folks out there who don't much like/know new music. A lot of folk with a lot of disposable income.

Or perhaps there's a lot of people like me, who "got" their Beatle collection in the days before iTunes .... i.e. napster and limewire ... and who were just waiting for them to appear on iTunes so they could "legitimize" said collection .... or maybe a thousand other reasons .... none of which fall into your"gut feeling". ....

Apple, bigger than Google, √ ..... bigger than Microsoft, √ The universe is unfolding as it should. Thanks, Apple.